How To Make A Great Marketing Video For Your Company In Minutes

If you’ve taken a scroll through your
Facebook or
Twitter feed lately, you’ve likely noticed that video is everywhere. In a Q4 2015 earnings call in January, Facebook reported that consumers are watching 100 million hours of video on their platform every day! As a growing number of people are watching videos, more and more businesses and brands are beginning to incorporate video into their marketing campaigns.

Historically, video marketing has been reserved for big brands with big budgets. However, in recent years, video creation has become much more attainable for smaller businesses — in no small part due to easy-to-use editing tools and apps. Brad Jefferson, CEO of Animoto, a cloud-based video creation service, says that consumers have come to expect video from businesses of all sizes. “In a study we conducted last year, we found that four times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it, and 25% of consumers actually lose interest in companies that aren’t using video. Those are powerful stats. At Animoto, our mission is to make it easy for anyone to create professional video and harness its power.”

What’s stopping small businesses from using video?

According to a recent survey from Flimp Media and ReelSEO, the two biggest challenges that keep businesses from using video are time and money. Agencies often charge tens of thousands of dollars to produce a single video, and business owners who don’t have that kind of money also don’t believe they have the time or know-how to create quality videos on their own.

“The two biggest misconceptions about video are that a good video takes weeks to create and costs a huge amount,” says Jefferson. “Sure, some video marketing projects — Super Bowl commercials, for instance — can cost millions and employ entire teams of actors and players. But professional video can still be attainable on a small business budget. It’s easier and more affordable than you may think.” Hearing that video is “easier than you think” is one thing, but seeing it in action is quite another. Goldtinker, a high-end jewelry store in Red Bank, New Jersey, created this Mother’s Day promotional video using Animoto’s software:

“We were able to create this video in just ten minutes using Animoto and a collection of product photos we already had on hand,” says marketing consultant, Theresa Pittius. “Finding an easy way to start marketing with video has been invaluable. Videos that we post to Facebook get 50% more organic engagement than other types of content and, when we pay to promote video posts, we see a 400% increase in the amount of engagement we used to get with photos alone. Engagement around video is pretty incredible.”

For less than fifty dollars a month, your company can use Animoto to create videos in a few quick steps. First, you select a video style or template, complete with motion graphics and transitions; then you choose from over 2,000 commercially licensed songs. You customize your video using your own photos, video clips, and text. When the video is ready, you just click a button to finish production, and then easily share it via social media, YouTube, email, or on your website — or all of the above.

Animoto's Process. (Image: Animoto)

The platform has been used by over 50,000 small businesses so far, as well as a large number of professional photographers. Sue Bryce, a world-renowned portrait photographer and educator, speaks regularly on the importance and effectiveness of video marketing. “I believe that every photographer should be using video to showcase their style and tell the story of their brand.” Here’s a video she created to share a ‘look behind-the-scenes’ of one of her shoots:

Video marketing has clearly arrived. Fortunately, there’s still a lot of room for growth. While Facebook reported that 1.5 million small- and medium-sized businesses shared videos on their platform in September 2015, that’s only a tiny fraction of the 40 million small businesses with Pages on Facebook. Now is the perfect time get started with video marketing if you want to stand out from your competitors. You’ll get the jump on those companies who may still subscribe to the misconception that video is too costly or time-consuming to use and connect with customers is the format they prefer.

@kate_l_harrison is a branding and marketing consultant specializing in nonprofits and sustainable businesses (katelharrison.com).

Kate L. Harrison is branding and marketing expert with a passion for helping nonprofits and eco-friendly businesses succeed. She has a Master's in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and a JD in Environmental Law from Pace. ...